BOSTON — Dominic Fletcher knew he was in for a tough at-bat facing Boston Red Sox reliever Zack Kelly.
The White Sox right fielder came to the plate with runners on first and second, one out and the score tied in the ninth inning.
The afternoon shadows at Fenway Park added another element to the challenge.
“Both teams have to deal with it so it’s even, but kind of tougher to see the seams in those shadows,” Fletcher said. “You get a breaking ball or a changeup and it looks like kind of a cue ball coming at you so you’ve got to react and trust your eyes.
“A couple of runners on, kind of tough shadows, good arm out there, I kind of wanted to see it deep and try to shoot something the other way and see if I can make something happen.”
The left-handed hitting Fletcher knocked a cutter from Kelly down the left-field line for an RBI double to give the White Sox the lead. They tacked on four more runs in the inning for a 7-2 victory in front of 29,110.
“That’s just the kind of game we want to play,” interim manager Grady Sizemore said.
The White Sox salvaged the finale of the three-game series behind solid pitching, spectacular defense and the five-run ninth.
At 33-111, the White Sox need to go 10-8 in their final 18 games to avoid tying the 1962 New York Mets (40-120) for the most losses in Major League Baseball’s modern era.
While Chris Flexen didn’t factor in Sunday’s decision, the victory snapped a streak of 20 straight games in which the White Sox lost his starts — the longest such stretch in MLB history.
“He was hitting the spots, he was making good pitches, keeping them kind of off-balance,” Sizemore said of Flexen. “They missed some barrels. It was good to see. I know he’s happy to go out there and get deeper into a game and keep us in there and just have a good performance.”
Flexen allowed two runs on six hits with six strikeouts and one walk in six innings.
“(Catcher) Korey (Lee) and I mixed pretty well today,” Flexen said. “Tried to compete and put us in a good spot to win.”
Flexen also credited the defense. Fletcher threw out Jarren Duran, who was trying to score from first on a double down the right-field line in the first inning.
“That ball kicked off a tarp down the line and kind of sat,” Fletcher said. “I knew he was on first and know his speed. So rather than throw it in to second, I kind of felt (Red Sox third-base coach Kyle Hudson) was going to probably send him there. Luckily he did.”
Fletcher also had a diving catch in right field to rob Rafael Devers of a hit in the sixth inning. Later in the sixth, shortstop Jacob Amaya made a tremendous diving stop and throw to retire Tyler O’Neill.
Flexen left with the score tied at 2.
It remained that way until the ninth, when Fletcher’s RBI hit gave the White Sox a 3-2 lead. They weren’t done. The Red Sox intentionally walked pinch hitter Gavin Sheets to load the bases for Amaya, who knocked in a run with a bloop single to right.
Zach DeLoach broke it open with a two-run single. Luis Robert Jr., who had three hits, brought home the final run with a sacrifice fly.
“Any time you can add runs, it’s big,” Fletcher said. “You never know what’s going to happen late in a game, ninth inning especially, so tacking, it was huge. It takes a lot of stress and pressure off our bullpen.”
Amaya had another impressive defensive play, leaping to catch Wilyer Abreu’s liner for the first out of the ninth. Justin Anderson struck out two in the inning as the White Sox won for just the second time in their last 16 games.
“You look at those first two games (of the series), there’s a couple plays that we weren’t able to make and execute,” Sizemore said. “I wouldn’t say they were difference makers, but I think when you look at today’s game, we played very clean, took care of the ball, made some great plays, good throws.
“And then we had some clutch at-bats. So, that’s what we want. I thought (Flexen) did great. Bullpen picked him up, too. That’s what winning baseball looks like.”
